The sky was a stroke of deepening purple high overhead. Night fell with the eerie howls of distant fiends moaning through the gorge.

A peculiar wave of homesickness washed over the pair from Besaid as Yuna's party filed through a cleft between huge fallen boulders and found themselves in a small grassy area ringed by low, dome-shaped huts. Feeble torchlight flickered on the looming cliffs, and a number of off-duty soldiers were gathered around a small fire-ring near the center of camp. The fitful wind was nothing like the sound of distant surf. Yet Wakka and Yuna tasted a hint of home. The faded colors of the canvas-sided lodges reminded them of Besaid fabrics, and the ragtag Crusaders in their patchwork armor recalled old friends left behind on the bloody Djose shore. One of the officers, a boy who could not be much older than Tidus, was eagerly leading Yuna and her companions towards one of the unoccupied tents.

"Oh, don't worry about it," he was saying. "We have more barracks than men, these days! Plenty of room!" The youth's face faltered for a moment, but he rallied quickly as heads turned curiously towards the party of strangers coming into the sheltered camp. "The Crusaders will rise from the ashes of Operation Mi'hen! But in the meantime, we are glad to assist you and your Guardians, Lady Summoner."

Yuna favored him with one of those bright smiles that always seemed to add a spring to the step of anyone basking in its glow. "Thank you, Captain. We are in your debt." She turned back to her Guardians, stifling a yawn. "Well! That's good news, isn't it? With their patrols we can skip watches tonght! It was a good idea stopping here, Lulu." Suddenly, the young Summoner did a double take. "Lulu?"

"Hey, where'd she go?" Rikku exclaimed.

Yuna's companions turned, bewildered, and scanned the cluster of huts and the dark shadows between them. The scant torches mounted in rocky alcoves were few and far between, reducing most figures to mere silhouettes. However, it would be difficult to mistake anyone else for Lulu. As far as they could see, the dark mage was nowhere in sight.

"I thought she was right behind me!" Wakka glared at Rikku accusingly, as if perhaps the thief had stowed her in a back pocket. Then he cupped his hands to his face, bellowing, "Hey, Lu! Luuuuuu! Don't scare us like dis!"

Their guide paled and waved his hands as the echoes subsided. "Please, sir, keep your voice down! We don't want to draw fiends to our base."

"Lu." Wakka balled his hands into fists. "Dammit! She got out of the cavern with us, didn't she?"

"Calm down." Even Auron, standing stiffly beside Yuna and peering out into the darkness, sounded faintly irked. "Lulu can take care of herself."

"Right." Yuna spoke briskly and calmly, although her hands twisted restlessly around her staff, betraying the same concern that was written plainly on Wakka's face. "Let's go, everyone! Lulu can't be far away."

Sir Auron, however, stepped in front of Yuna with all the authority of a rockslide, barring her way with a frown. "Wait." The young Summoner was surely holding herself together by sheer force of will. Dealing with the Fayth always drained her immensely, and she had also performed a Sending this evening. His clipped words brooked no argument. "I'll find her. You should rest-- all of you. We tackle Mt. Gagazet in the morning."

"But, Sir Auron--" Yuna scowled, a stubborn hardness settling about her mouth and eyes that made the older Guardian chuckle.

"I suspect the chief danger is from Lulu herself. She was... very quiet... while you were inside negotiating with Yojimbo."

"Oh." Yuna clearly would rather be tracking down her sharp-tempered friend herself, but after a moment she bit her lip and nodded. "I see. Get her to come back soon, if you can. Thank you, Sir Auron."

"And watch out for thunderbolts," Wakka muttered.

"Don't wait up for us." Sir Auron gave Kimahri's chest a solid thump as he passed, the silent signal between them when one was relieving the other during the night's watches. Then he strode off into the gathering darkness.